I bought this DFI PB60-VB board from some recycler and the bios chip was missing so I ask him if he still has the chip and he said no but he was kind enough to ship the board with a bios chip from another board.
now I need to program it with correct bios file, replace the caps and wash the board, hopefully it'll work.

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well:

Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...

Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Was it shown in the original listing?

Pretty much. Oh well, caveat emptor baybee!

Karbist wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:07:

I bought this DFI PB60-VB board from some recycler

How do they relate to DTK? All these Taiwanese companies were a real miracle - such a motor for the industry, inventing, stealing and faking at the same time - just like a modern China but probably somewhat more Creative (lol, pun intended).

Like, they were the same company or a group of companies? Because I often see them together. My first monitor was from DTK. And just recently I bought DFI memory expansion card DFI Rambank - and found the very same but named DTK Rambank.

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Was it shown in the original listing?

Better call Bits and Bolts. That's what he likes 😀

Karbist wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:07:

I bought this DFI PB60-VB board from some recycler and the bios chip was missing so I ask him if he still has the chip and he said no but he was kind enough to ship the board with a bios chip from another board.
now I need to program it with correct bios file, replace the caps and wash the board, hopefully it'll work.

PB60-VB.jpg

The BIOS chip needs to be of the same type as the original one.
If you have a board that share this type of BIOS you can hot-swap them to flash the "empty " BIOS.
(By booting with the working board. Once in DOS, removing the BIOS chip while the system is running and replacing it with the empty one. Flash the BIOS. Poweroff. Install the BIOSes back in their original motherboards. Voilà !)
I saved a SS7 board that way.

acl wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:19:

The BIOS chip needs to be of the same type as the original one.
If you have a board that share this type of BIOS you can hot-swap them to flash the "empty " BIOS.

TL866 and you don't need these dangerous tricks, only the BIOS dump from retroweb.

And as for BIOS type - with DIP packages it's probably standard 512K chip that was used for quite a time since 386 to Pentiums and even P2.

acl wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:19:

The BIOS chip needs to be of the same type as the original one. If you have a board that share this type of BIOS you can hot-swa […]
Show full quote

The BIOS chip needs to be of the same type as the original one.
If you have a board that share this type of BIOS you can hot-swap them to flash the "empty " BIOS.
(By booting with the working board. Once in DOS, removing the BIOS chip while the system is running and replacing it with the empty one. Flash the BIOS. Poweroff. Install the BIOSes back in their original motherboards. Voilà !)
I saved a SS7 board that way.

It's a 256KB chip and I already hot flashed it, also dumped the bios image from it and chip was taken from ECS P4VMM2 board.

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well.

Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...

Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Ouch! That's some impressive damage there. It might be possible to shave off a little bit of the plastic packing and reconnect those pins maybe.

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-02-02, 03:45:

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well.

Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...

Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Ouch! That's some impressive damage there. It might be possible to shave off a little bit of the plastic packing and reconnect those pins maybe.

Would be quicker to just remove that chip and replace it, plenty of donor cards out there.

You're not wrong. But he still need to source a second card at a reasonable cost. Even known-bad cards are selling at a premium. Add the cost of repair and shipping, it might be close to the cost of a working replacement.

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-02-02, 04:13:

You're not wrong. But he still need to source a second card at a reasonable cost. Even known-bad cards are selling at a premium. Add the cost of repair and shipping, it might be close to the cost of a working replacement.

Very True, still repairing that chip and reattaching the legs will require a fair amount of skill at micro soldering and microscope use, certainly not a repair for the inexperienced.

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well: IM […]
Show full quote

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well:
IMG_0559.jpeg
Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...
IMG_0558.jpeg
Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Was it shown in the original listing?
s-l1600.jpg

Pretty much. Oh well, caveat emptor baybee!

If you're a user on cpu-world.com there's NOS chips for sale here ...

https://www.cpu-world.com/forum/viewtopic.php … &highlight=3dfx

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-01-31, 16:30:

Picked up this MiroSOUND PCM 20 sound card.

Don't really know anything about it, but it looked unusual so I bought it.

MiroSOUND PCM 20.jpg

Wow, that looks so nice!

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well: IM […]
Show full quote

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well:
IMG_0559.jpeg
Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...
IMG_0558.jpeg
Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Was it shown in the original listing?
s-l1600.jpg

Pretty much. Oh well, caveat emptor baybee!

'tis but a scratch..

Seriously, fixable..

ubiq wrote on 2024-02-01, 23:14:

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well: IM […]
Show full quote

Took a chance on an "untested" Voodoo 2 auction because the price was right, and a localish seller (cheap shipping) and well:
IMG_0559.jpeg
Hmm, ok, not the end of the worl...
IMG_0558.jpeg
Oh. 🤦‍♂️

Was it shown in the original listing?
s-l1600.jpg

Ouch!

That can be fixed but you'll need a steady hand and patience.
Check the datasheet. If it gets too difficult, maybe there's some NC or redundant pins such as GND that could be left alone and increase your chances of getting it working.

I saw a drive controller on Ebay at a low price and ordered it.

What showed up was still shrink wrapped.

I want to play with it, but I also don't want to open it.

I'd almost rather get a dirty board to clean up than to remove shrink wrap.

Am I weird?

Nice score

douglar wrote on 2024-02-02, 14:51:

I'd almost rather get a dirty board to clean up than to remove shrink wrap.

I feel you, it's kinda like feeling history frowning over your shoulder if you sully a nice one, but smiling if you take a lost cause and improve it in any way.

douglar wrote on 2024-02-02, 14:51:

I'd almost rather get a dirty board to clean up than to remove shrink wrap.

Am I weird?

Lol. You are not alone. That's why I prefer buying separate items. Hunting for drivers, investigation is the part of the game. And here you have everything clean, working and having all you need to start. Though unpacking something new is also somewhat interesting.

My Tekram VLB IDE controller also lies somewhere waiting for 5x86 Novell Netware "server" build 😀 I had to find two identical drives for it and found three as a result.

I watched a YouTube video on how to setup a Novell NetWare sever once. It does not look pleasant.

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-02-02, 15:11:

I watched a YouTube video on how to setup a Novell NetWare sever once. It does not look pleasant.

Is it worse than cleaning - restoring leaking motherboard? 😀